Environmental Studies Program

The Mission of the Environmental Studies Program is Threefold:

To educate our students in the interdisciplinary framework of understanding and responding to global, regional, and local environmental challenges
To help our students delineate topical specialties where they can become familiar with the knowledge base of the interdisciplinary framework
To develop in our students the problem-solving skills necessary to frame, analyze, describe, and ultimately offer realistic solutions to environmental challenges

As an interdisciplinary inquiry, it is neither practical nor appropriate for ENVS to itemize specific theoretical foundations that students are universally expected to master. Students whose orientation is in the social sciences, for instance, will approach the issues with a different perspective than will those in the natural sciences; it would be unrealistic, and indeed, unwise, to portray the field as a monolithic entity.

The interdisciplinary framework inherently means that we promote no single avenue to impart basic knowledge, to solve problems, or to develop particular skills. Rather, under this heading, ENVS fosters a "bridging" function that utilizes the best of many traditional disciplines. For instance, there is no single perspective that can be employed adequately to understand an issue like water pollution: it involves biology, chemistry, sociology and anthropology, geology and geography, economics, political science, communication, etc. Our job is to involve the relevant specialties and to equip our students with literacy in the intersection of these specialties for the problem at hand.

In order to prevent the obvious dangers of superficial dabbling in numerous disciplines, ENVS requires its students to identify particular areas, either by topical interest or disciplinary boundaries, within which they develop depth of understanding. In particular, students are responsible for:

a fundamental comprehension of philosophical roots,
theoretical positions,
essential arguments,
methodologies, and
fundamental assumptions in that area,

They are able to apply that field to environmental issues in a thoughtful and useful manner. This knowledge base in a particular specialty is imperative to help students parse out research questions for senior research projects and other culminating experiences in the major.

Perhaps most importantly, ENVS emphasizes the integration of problem-solving into the basic interdisciplinary framework and the depth component so that our students are qualified to:

develop research questions,
operationalize hypotheses,
design and carry out empirical research,
perform statistical tests,
evaluate alternative solutions, and
both document and defend policy options through clear written and spoken presentations.

With these critical skills, our students will have the rigorous and multifaceted education that will enable them to contribute usefully to the environmental field.